Friday, November 24, 2023
Holiday Lane at American Christmas is back with 100,000 lights just outside of NYC
www.timeout.com/newyork: Inside a nondescript red brick warehouse just outside of New York City, the staff of American Christmas bring holiday magic to life. They're known for creating the renowned displays at Macy's, the Cartier mansion, Radio City Music Hall, the Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens and more.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This article interested me both in regards to the specific exhibit that is being mentioned and the work that this company overall does. This exhibit is a great example of simple lighting in themed entertainment. I wonder what kinds of lights they are using and how they are controlling them. It looks from the images like this is just strings of christmas lights plugged into a power distribution system, but it may be something more sophisticated. I also cannot tell how much they are just using string lights and how much they also have lighting fixtures to add atmosphere to the scenery.
It seems like designing for companies like this would require a lot of the same skills that working in a scenic or prop shop would require. You are creating temporary displays in which the aesthetic requirements are the most important attribute. My guess, however, is that there are some differences in construction methods because these pieces of scenery do not need to be interacted with the same way which actors interact with sets.
Reading this article made me a little nostalgic for home. I remember as a child putting up christmas lights for hours with my mom and my brother creating our own little bit of holiday cheer. In fact I just put up my family's Christmas lights yesterday before I left town again. I can also remember as a kid all throughout the holiday season we would go and tour different christmas light displays. I have very fond memories of those holiday seasons. Reading this article made me remember all the good times I had as a kid and reminded me how much I love Christmas lights. Christmas lights have always been a huge part of the way I get into the holiday spirit. COming home every day to a nice display of lights and driving though my town and seeing all the decorations and lights just reminds me that its christmas. And brings me happiness. Even seeing the trees be decorated here at Carnegie made me happy and made me go “Yay, its christmas.”
I have actually always wondered who the big companies hire to put up their huge and fancy holiday lights in New York, LA, or any of those big cities you can think of. It's really interesting to me to think about this because you would think that they are just light (because they are) but it is surprising how much it changes our mindsets. Think of little kids staring at shiny lights as they go down the street or yourself saying it feels like Christmas when you see those things. It sort of just cements the idea that our environment is so influential even to how much serotonin our body produces. You get happy when you are reminded of happier times and so things related to holidays or events people tend to enjoy can be extremely influential. So it is very interesting to see how companies essentially commercialize that idea and make money.
Post a Comment